Microsoft Exits $35 Billion Essex AI Datacentre Deal as Power Delays Hit UK Flagship Project
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 18
Microsoft Exits $35 Billion Essex AI Datacentre Deal as Power Delays Hit UK Flagship Project
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 18
Summary
Microsoft has withdrawn from Nscale’s Loughton project in Essex, stripping the planned UK AI datacentre of its only publicly announced customer and likely anchor tenant.
Power-supply concerns drove the exit after grid problems surfaced last month, raising the prospect of a lengthy delay for a site that had been due to open next year.
The setback deepens doubts around a project ministers promoted in 2025 as the UK’s largest sovereign AI datacentre; earlier reporting had already shown the location was still an operational scaffolding yard in March.
Nscale said it remains committed to Loughton and is seeking alternative power sources, but losing Microsoft could complicate its push for a Wall Street listing at a potential $35 billion valuation.
With Microsoft abandoning the UK's flagship AI datacentre, can off-grid energy solutions realistically save Britain's sovereign tech ambitions from severe gridlock?
Could massive new reservation fees successfully clear the UK's congested power grid, or will they simply crush emerging AI infrastructure developers?